Holly

I've got my hair wash routine; my shampoo, conditioners, gel combs and everything taken inside my bathroom, because I think that's another symbol of mental health. If I haven't washed my hair in ages, that's when I know things are getting to me.

With my kind of hair, I only need to do it once a week, but it can be a big effort. Once I've finished, I feel amazing; my hair feels great. It's pretty interesting how washing my hair can affect my mood.

When I was younger, I had my hair relaxed; technically straightened. When I was 21 or 22, I decided to go all natural with my hair, and that's been a big change; embracing it. I want to connect with my roots, my heritage.

If I'm doing something, I want to put all of my effort into it. I don't know whether that's down to me being deaf, and I've always had to work harder, put twice the effort in to reach those grades, to communicate with other people, to network and socialise. I think that also probably applies to stuff at home as well, so it's now probably ingrained in me to do more, not just do things half-heartedly.

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Bella

This is my lovely dog, Bella. I adopted her from North Macedonia, and her history is not completely known, but she was found on the streets. We adopted her, and Bella had a lot of issues, I suppose, like humans, really, she's not had the best start to life, and she's still learning, and I'm learning a lot about her and a lot about myself.

Going for a walk with Bella, like this day, that does help my mental health. That's where I do all my thinking, reflecting, and it's just a reason to get out of the house as well. I know it's good exercise for me, even though it's maybe a 20-minute routine three times a day, it does help my mind a lot, and I always feel like a weight’s lifted off my shoulders in a way.

Starbies!

When I used to work at a school, I became good friends with someone who worked there, and I used to meet her near the school where the Starbucks was. I'd pick her up, and we would drive to work together. Getting Starbucks became our thing, and it became a payday treat. And it was just a bit of excitement, something to look forward to before going to work.

Even though now I've left the school, we still meet up now and again, and we go to our local Starbucks, and we just have a massive rant, gossip, chat, everything, a heart-to-heart. It just symbolises our little Starbies joke as well as friendship and being able to offload to someone, and she can offload to me. Connecting, being able to relate to each other on certain subjects, and also wanting the best for each other.